Nine lives
by jwg676
Summary: There are emotions so strong in each genin that they change the course of lives


**Title:** Nine lives

**Rating:** G

**Pairing / Characters: **The rookie nine, the non rookies

**Word Count:**4, 012 words

**Warnings: **Some spoilers in general

**Summary: **There are emotions each genin feels so strongly it can change their lives

**A/N: **I know, I know, it says nine lives which is the title, but the problem is that I just couldn't stop at the rookie nine so I included Neji, Tenten and Lee. That's not the problem exactly, the problem is that I like the title too much to change it to fit in the other three. Its my tough luck, I guess.

Uzumaki Naruto 

Naruto bleeds.

Alone in a world that called him monster, he wanted nothing more than to be accepted, acknowledged. His unalterable dream of becoming Hokage stemmed from a deep desire to be respected, if not loved. He has friends now, a team, people more precious than the ramen he loves so much, but in spite of his place in people's lives, he still bleeds for the lonely child he was.

Uchiha Sasuke 

Sasuke hates.

The last living survivor of the Uchiha clan, all he wanted was to gain enough strength to kill the man he once respected. Once he accepted Orochimaru's cursed seal of Heaven, he suddenly realised that he didn't know what he hated more: Itachi, himself for being unable to kill him, or Naruto, who had the courage to become what Sasuke himself never could.

Haruno Sakura 

Sakura cries.

At night, when no one sees or hears, Sakura cries herself to sleep, and wakes up every morning with tears on her cheeks. She doesn't cry because she is unhappy, she cries because despite her best efforts, her love wasn't enough to stop Sasuke from leaving her. After all, she tells herself, what's the use of living a life of love when her love means nothing to the one person who means the most to her?

Yamanaka Ino

Ino fears.

As a kunoichi, her life is relatively untroubled, freed from the hurt and injustices that some of her fellow ninja have experienced. She has been on many missions, some of them failures, more of them successes, and is comfortable with her team and her life. Its just that sometimes Ino wakes screaming, vague images of nightmares haunting her waking hours.

Ino will never tell a living soul, least of all her father, but despite the life she has chosen, she is terrified of dying.

Akimichi Chouji 

Chouji eats.

Some say it is because, as a part of the butterfly clan, he eats because of his techniques. Others say that he eats just because he enjoys it. Only Shikamaru and Chouji himself know the truth: Chouji eats to hide his shyness and the fears that he will never be accepted by anyone else.

Nara Shikamaru 

Shikamaru plays.

To him, life is a game of shougi.

Each move, each day, each complex mission or lesson at the academy… nothing is left to chance and everything is carefully planned. It has been that way since he was a child, and he is just too lazy to change it. The only thing that did not go according to plan was his friendship with Chouji; despite that, Shikamaru values it more than his own life.

Hyuuga Hinata 

Hinata dreams.

Someday, she tells herself, she will find the courage to tell Naruto how she feels, and she is certain that it will be the happiest day of her life. Until then, she stands in the shadows and watches as Naruto chases his dreams, making them reality while she can only stand on the sidelines.

Aburame Shino 

Shino watches.

For as long as he could remember, he stood on the sidelines, silently observing his team mates, his sensei, the Hokage. He was never forced to stand alone but chose to, knowing that sometimes observation provided the greatest knowledge of your friends – and your opponents. That's why Shino knew that Sasuke was going to defect long before he actually did. The trouble is, no one bothered to ask Shino or he would have told them.

Inuzuka Kiba

Kiba laughs.

As long as he has Akamaru at his side, he can overcome any obstacle life chooses to throw at him, and with Akamaru, even small things are exciting. Kiba trains his nin – dog deep in the woods where the two of them only have each other for company, and during these training sessions, Kiba will berate himself over and over for not being able to protect Akamaru when it counted most.

Hyuuga Neji 

Neji burns.

From a very young age, he was taught by his elders that fate is something that can't be changed by anyone. A genius most blessed by the Hyuuga's talent, Neji lived only to prove that he was better than everyone else, determined to show that he could rise above his own fate. It wasn't until his fight with Naruto that he learned the true meaning of genius.

Tenten

Tenten wonders.

Her parents tell her that she is too curious for her own good, that sometimes the only thing more dangerous than an untrained ninja is a curious mind, but Tenten never listens. She wonders why the clouds obscure the blue of the sky, why her sensei is such an idiot, why Lee wants to be like him so much, why the Third had to die…

The only thing Tenten doesn't wonder about is the crush she has on a certain shinobi, regardless of what others might think if they ever found out.   
Rock Lee 

Lee works.

Luck is a part of skill, Gai-sensei tells him, and those who work hard enough can surpass true geniuses. For Lee, who is unable to draw or mold chakra, those words have become the motto he lives by. Lee trains harder than any other shinobi in Konohagakure because he knows that if he doesn't live by and protect his way of the ninja, no one else will do it for him.


End file.
